United States Pat. Nos. 4,091,036, issued May 23, 1978, 4,094,840, issued June 13, 1978, 4,133,811, issued Jan. 9, 1979, and 4,146,538, issued Mar. 27, 1979, each discloses androstenes intermediates having the partial structural formula ##STR6## wherein R.sub.f is alkyl or aryl, and both R.sub.f groups are the same.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,559, issued Nov. 30, 1982, discloses androstene-17-dithioketals having the partial structural formula ##STR7## wherein R.sub.g and R.sub.h are the same or different and each is alkyl, cycloalkyl, or aryl; R.sub.i is hydrogen, hydroxy, alkoxy, aryloxy, alkylthio, arylthio, ##STR8## or halogen; and the broken line in the 15,16-position represents the optional presence of ethylenic unsaturation. The steroids have antiinflammatory activity.